(with thanks to David Bowie). Mrs. Foote has retired after 29 years at Westlake High School, and a wonderful time as the Westlake High School lead librarian for 29 years.  There are lots of great library memories – like Dylan Day, Playdoh Day, Academy Award contests, and working with classes and teachers.  She’s seen the library through a renovation, a new ninth grade center, and then a new main library – and gone from filmstrips and slide shows to iPads and mobile robotics, from a school with 1900 students to almost 3000 students, and so many changes in between.

Her parting advice?  Keep reading, always use “Advanced Search” features in research, seek out diverse voices and viewpoints, remember search sites have biases, and always ask good questions.   Thanks for the good times, Chaps!

Welcome to the “virtual” library!  We are still here to help you! Here are some ways to reach us:

Zoom hours – join us daily on Zoom for our open hours during 8:15-8:45 a.m. and 12:00 – 1:15 p.m.  Anyone is welcome!  Come hang out or ask for specific help.  Ask your teacher for the Zoom code, or email the library staff!

Set up an appointment – Contact us and set up an appointment and we will be happy to meet with you.

Email – Email us for help.  Emails are on our “about us” page!

Call us – You can also contact us by phone during school hours at 512-732-9284.  Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @ whslibraryrocks too!

To keep up with current events, the library pulled together some resources for your reading and listening.  These books and podcasts might be conversation starters or help us deepen our understandings.  There are many resources available, and these are just a start.

Talking to your Kids about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (For parents – podcasts, reading lists for children, teens, and adults, and conversation guides)

The weather is getting warmer which means it is a great time to curl up in the sun with a great read!  The library has added lots of new ebooks and audiobooks for you to our Overdrive and Mackin accounts!

To use Overdrive, download either the Overdrive or the Sora app(Sora is the high school app for Overdrive) and check out our shelf by going to our website here.

End your semester calmly!  Join us in the library for a daily destressing activity!  Check the schedule below!

Welcome to 2019-2020 school year!  The library has been here since the very beginning, ready to help!  In fact, here’s Westlake’s FIRST librarian, Sarah Widener, helping students with headphones!

To celebrate the 50th anniversary, join us on the first day for a Sixties photo booth and check out the photographs around the library celebrating 1969!

Just like then, the library was a place for students to hang out, get help with technology(we had the first reverse screen projector where the bathroom is now), find good books, and get help from librarians.

The technology may have changed, but the library’s goal to serve students (and help teachers) hasn’t changed!

So welcome to 2019!  Have a great year!

If you find yourself stressed with a project, a bibliography, needing a quiet place to study, editing a video, using a Green Screen, or more, let us help relieve your stress and help you with your project.  Just ASK for help and we’ll do our best to get you started or find the answer!

Thanks to being part of a community!

Last week, the library set up a letter writing station in the library to support the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

We appreciate you taking the time to send your thoughts and concerns to students in Florida.